re^vx  3" 


THE   NORMAL 

School  Quarterly 


Series  I 


January,    1903 


Number  4. 


Agriculture  and  Horticulture 
in  the  Rural  Schools 

By 

DAVID    FELMLEY 


PUBLISHED      BY     THE      ILLINOIS      STATE 
NORMAL      UNIVERSITY,      NORMAL,      ILLINOIS 


NORMAL   SCHOOL    QUARTERLY 

Published  by  the  Illinois  State  Normal  University,    Normal,    Illinois 

Series  1  JANUARY  1903  Number  4' 


Agriculture  and  Horticulture  in  the 
Rural  Schools. 


No  recent  development  in  the  life  of  the  middle  West  is  of 
greater  promise  than  the  growing  interest  in  scientific  agriculture. 
This  interest  is  no  new  thing.  We  had  such  a  movement  in  Illi- 
nois fifty  years  ago.  The  brilliant  discoveries  of  Sir  William 
Lawes  at  Eothamstead  and  of  Liebig  at  Giessen  had  opened  the 
eyes  of  the  world  to  the  possibilities  of  agricultural  chemistry. 
Our  wisest  men  believed  it  was  destined  to  revolutionize  methods 

*  of  farming.     The  act  establishing  the  Illinois  State  Normal  Uni- 
versity in  1857  especially  provides  that  teachers  shall  be  instructed 

[  in  agricultural  chemistry,  and  animal  and  vegetable  physiology. 
Largely  thru  the  leadership  of  Jonathan  Turner,  of  Jackson- 
ville, Congress  was  induced  to  pass  the  Morrill  act  of  1862  endow- 
ing our  agricultural  colleges.  After  the  war  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  our  railway  systems  brought  into  cultivation  vast  areas 
beyond  the  Mississippi.  The  competition  of  their  cheap  grain  and 
-w  cattle  made  farming  unprofitable  in  the  older  states.  But  we 
have  now  practically  reached  the  limit  of  the  agricultural  area. 
4  Only  by  great  irrigation  works  or  by  expensive  drainage  systems 
can  any  considerable  addition  be  made  to  our  arable  lands.  Farm- 
ing now  must  become  intensive  rather  than  extensive;  hence  the 

*  present  revival  of  interest  in  scientific  agriculture  is  in  response 


The  Normal  School  Quarterly. 


to  a  genuine  economic  demand.  The  attendance  upon  our  agri- 
cultural colleges  is  rapidly  increasing.  Their  bulletins  are  eagerly- 
read  by  intelligent  farmers.  Their  professors  address  vast  audi- 
ences at  the  farmers'  institutes.  Our  legislatures  appropriate 
large  sums  for  their  support. 

In  this  advance  agriculture  is  moving  in  the  same  lines  as  all 
other  trades  and  professions.  The  apprentice  system  is  dying. 
Modern  civilization  is  not  satisfied  with  rule-of-thumb  methods 
learned  by  imitation.  It  demands  that  all  arts  be  rational  arts 
intelligently  based  upon  an  underlying  science,  and  has  created 
the  technical  school  to  meet  this  demand.  But  not  every  farm- 
er's son  can  attend  the  agricultural  college.  Nearly  all  must  de- 
pend upon  the  literature  issued  by  such  institutions.  The  bulletins 
are  often  too  technical  to  appeal  to  the  average  farmer;  they 
abound  in  scientific  terms  based  upon  distinctions  of  which  he  is 
ignorant.  It  is  evident  that  the  agricultural  experiment  station 
will  never  accomplish  its  purpose  unless  there  is  diffused  among 
our  farming  population  an  elementary  knowledge  of  the  sciences 
relating  to  agriculture.  The  rural  schools  and  the  high  schools 
attended  by  farmers'  sons  must  provide  the  necessary  instruction. 
There  seems  no  other  practical  way. 

The  special  instruction  offered  in  this  line  is  not  merely  to 
train  skillful  farmers.  It  is  quite  important  that  farmer  boys 
and  girls  learn  to  appreciate  and  love  the  country.  There  need 
be  here  no  division  in  material  or  method.  The  knowledge  of  soil 
and  atmosphere,  of  plant  and  animal  life  that  makes  him  an  intel- 
ligent producer  puts  him  in  sympathetic  touch  with  these  activi- 
ties of  nature.  If  the  farmer  as  he  trudges  down  the  corn  rows 
under  the  June  sun  sees  only  clods,  and  weeds,  and  corn,  he  leads 
an  empty  and  a  barren  life.  But  if  he  knows  of  the  work  of  the 
moisture  in  air  and  soil,  of  the  use  of  air  to  root  and  leaf,  of  the 
mysterious  chemistry  of  the  sunbeam,  of  the  vital  forces  in  the 
growing  plant,  of  the  bacteria  in  the  soil  liberating  its  elements  of 


Agriculture  and  Horticulture  in  the  Bural  Schools.  3 

fertility;  if  he  sees  the  relation  of  all  these  natural  forces  to  his 
own  work;  if  he  can  follow  his  crop  to  the  market,  to  foreign  lands, 
to  the  mill,  to  the  oven  and  the  table;  if  he  knows  of  the  hun- 
dreds of  commercial  products  obtained  from  his  corn  or  the  ani- 
mals that  it  fattens :  he  then  realizes  that  he  is  no  mere  toiler ;  he  is 
marshaling  the  hosts  of  the  universe  and  upon  the  skill  of  his 
generalship  depends  the  life  of  nations. 

It  is  not  feasible  in  the  school  to  teach  agriculture  as  an  art 
to  any  considerable  extent.  We  cannot  teach  practically  how  to 
lay  a  drain,  but  we  may  show  why  a  field  should  be  drained.  We 
may  not  teach  the  best  method  of  cultivating  corn,  but  we  may 
show  why  it  should  be  cultivated,  and  the  general  principles  that 
should  control  such  cultivation.  We  cannot  in  the  rural  school 
determine  experimentally  the  best  ration  for  feeding  any  class 
of  stock,  but  we  may  learn  of  the  value  of  variety  in  the  food 
supply  of  man  or  beast,  of  the  principal  classes  of  foods,  and  of 
the  function  of  each  in  the  animal  economy. 

The  instruction  cannot  be  given  merely  from  books  or  in  talks 
by  the  teacher.  In  this  study,  as  in  all  others,  books  are  of  use 
after  the  student  has  made  some  progress.  Unless  there  can  be 
practical  experiments  to  arouse  the  pupil's  interest  and  to  give 
him  clear,  first-hand  ideas  of  the  matter  discussed  in  the  books  or 
lectures,  they  can  be  of  little  value.  Canada,  Ireland,  England 
and  France,  all  have  tried  teaching  agriculture  by  introducing  into 
the  schools  specially  prepared  books  dealing  with  methods  of 
cultivation  of  the  important  crops,  gardening,  and  a  few  notions 
about  the  care  of  live  stock,  soils,  manures,  drainage  and  common 
agricultural  instruments.  All  have  failed.  Without  teachers 
who  believe  in  this  work,  who  know  what  to  do  and  how 
to  do  it,  nothing  can  come  from  the  present  movement.  Hence 
the  efforts  of  farmers'  institutes  should  be  directed  not  so  much 
towards  legislation  requiring  the  subject  to  be  taught,  as  towards 


The  Normal  School  Quarterly. 


building   up   a    public    sentiment   that   shall    demand    qualified 
teachers. 

The  education  of  the  farmer  does  not  demand  new  subjects 
so  much  as  it  demands  the  teaching  of  the  old  branches  with  ref- 
erence to  the  needs  of  farm  life.  The  school  should  face  the 
farm  rather  than  the  town.  A  system  of  farm  book-keeping,  en- 
abling the  farmer  to  keep  an  accurate  account  with  every  crop  and 
live  stock  interest  on  his  place,  would  go  far  towards  stopping 
leaks,  towards  introducing  economical  and  business  methods.  If 
the  problems  of  arithmetic  deal  with  topics  directly  or  indirectly 
connected  with  the  activities  of  the  farm  they  will  prove  more 
interesting  and  efficient  from  the  school  standpoint  and  at  the 
same  time  will  accustom  the  student  to  consider  the  quantitative 
aspect  of  the  things  with  which  he  deals.  I  give  three  simple 
problems  for  fourteen-year-old  children  relating  to  the  corn  crop. 

1.  If  corn  planted  in  hills  3  feet  8  inches  apart  produces 
three  ears  to  the  hill  averaging  10  ounces  in  weight,  what  is  the 
yield  in  bushels  per  acre? 

2.  Twenty-two  stalks  out  of  150  are  found  without  ears.  At 
this  rate  the  loss  from  barren  stocks  is  what  per  cent  of  a  full 
crop? 

3.  A  load  of  corn  in  the  ear,  10  feet  long,  3  feet  wide,  30 
inches  high,  weighs  2,310  pounds.  Each  bushel  occupies  how 
many  cubic  inches? 

Geography  will  be  more  practical  as  well  as  of  greater  edu- 
cational value  if  it  emphasizes  the  study  of  soil  and  climate  and 
other  physical  conditions  as  determining  the  agricultural  pro- 
ducts and  leading  occupations  of  the  people  of  various  regions. 
In  these  days  of  cheap  transportation  and  world  wide  competition 
the  farmer  must  know  thoroly  the  relative  advantages  of  his  com- 
petitors in  various  lines  of  production; — the  fertility  of  their 
fields,  the  efficiency  of  their  methods  of  cultivation  and  harvesting, 


Agriculture  and  Horticulture  in  the  Bural  Schools.  5 

the  cost  and  intelligence  of  their  labor,  their  nearness  to  market. 
The  Illinois  farmer  must  stick  to  the  great  staples  for  which 
nature  has  favored  him.  A  little  more  knowledge  in  this  line 
would  have  prevented  some  recent  disastrous  experiments  with 
a  crop  for  which  we  are  not  specially  fitted  and  requiring 
a  great  deal  of  hard  labor.  Fullness  of  knowledge  of  the  indus- 
trial life  of  the  world  fosters  on  intelligent  interest  in  one's  own 
occupation. 

History,  whose  purpose  is  to  explain  existing  institutions, 
loses  none  of  its  interest  and  value  by  devoting  a  large  share  of  its 
space  to  the  development  of  our  agriculture  and  tributary  indus- 
tries. Almost  the  entire  history  of  our  country  can  be  centered 
about  our  wealth  of  fertile  soil,  the  contest  for  its  possession,  the 
tide  of  population  that  has  flowed  over  it,  the  diverse  products  of 
different  sections,  the  systems  of  labor  that  have  grown  up  to  se- 
cure effective  cultivation,  the  struggle  for  an  outlet  to  foreign 
markets  thru  cheaper  transportation  and  the  removal  of  restric- 
tions on  trade.  All  of  our  great  political  questions  have  been 
fundamentally  economic  questions  vitally  related  to  our  dominant 
industry,  agriculture. 

The  elements  of  physics  including  the  mechanical  princi- 
ples of  machinery,  the  behavior  of  water  in  the  soil,  weather  phe- 
nomena, and  the  laws  of  heat  are  of  prime  importance.  Simple 
experiments  and  constant  appeals  to  the  experience  and  observa- 
tions of  the  pupils  are  more  effective  than  text-books.  Little  ap- 
paratus need  be  bought.  Much  can  be  made  by  teacher  and  pu- 
pils. Thus,  to  illustrate,  the  effect  of  soil  conditions  upon 
capillary  action,  three  tomato  cans  with  perforated  bottoms  are 
filled  respectively  with  loose  dry  soil,  with  dry  soil  pressed  in  the 
can,  and  with  a  dry  cloddy  soil  that  has  been  worked  when  too 
wet.  The  cans  are  weighed,  set  over  night  in  shallow  pans  con- 
taining one-half  inch  of  water,  and  weighed  again  the  next  day. 


The  Normal  School  Quarterly. 


For  this  and  many  other  school  uses  are  needed  old-fashioned 
grocers'  tea  scales  with  weights  varying  from  half  an  ounce  to 
four  pounds. 

If  the  teacher  know  the  subject,  or  even  if  he  have  read  care- 
fully such  a  book  as  King's  "The  Soil/'  he  can  interest  the  older 
pupils  in  the  formation,  composition,  physical  condition  and 
texture  of  soils  as  related  to  plant  life;  in  soil  water,  soil  air,  soil 
temperature  and  the  various  elements  of  fertility  that  are  of  vital 
importance  to  plant  nutrition;  in  the  need  of  tillage  to  regulate 
soil  air,  moisture,  temperature,  as  well  as  to  keep  down  weeds ;  in 
the  function  of  drainage,  crop-rotation,  and  artificial  fertilizers. 

The  study  of  the  rearing  and  feeding  and  proper  care  of 
domestic  animals  presents  so  many  points  of  contact  with  human 
physiology  that  the  intelligent  teacher  will  carry  the  two  lines 
parallel.  Experiments  in  feeding  with  different  rations  may  often 
be  directed  by  the  teacher,  where  a  well-equipped  farm  provides 
facilities. 

In  the  fall  months  no  subject  is  more  interesting  than  the 
insect  life  that  fills  the  air  with  its  humming.  It  is  entirely 
practicable  in  every  school  to  show  the  characteristics  of  the 
various  orders  of  insects  and  the  different  modes  of  development 
from  egg  to  adult.  Children  should  become  acquainted  with  the 
life  habits  of  the  pests  of  the  garden,  orchard,  and  field,  and  with 
the  best  methods  of  preventing  their  ravages.  It  is  equally  im- 
portant that  they  recognize  the  great  service  of  some  insects  in  min- 
istering to  the  fertilization  of  plants,  and  of  others  in  preying  upon 
injurious  species. 

Along  with  economic  insects  must  come  the  birds  that  hold 
them  in  check.  With  a  knowledge  of  the  vicissitudes  of  bird  life 
will  come  generous  measures  to  protect  them,  the  enforcement  of 
our  laws,  the  extermination  of  vagrant  cats,  the  planting  of  mul- 
berries, wild  cherries,  and  other  trees  and  vines  that  supply  them 
with  food. 


Agriculture  and  Horticulture  in  the  Rural  Schools.  7 

The  central  interest  in  the  study  of  the  farmer  must  be  vege- 
table life.  To  it  all  else  is  tributary.  It  is  the  main  source  of 
his  wealth;  and  from  it  flow  the  chief  delights  of  those  who  have 
learned  to  find  pleasure  in  the  scenes  and  activities  of  rural  life. 
In  this  field  the  instruction  in  our  elementary  schools  must  ac- 
complish at  least  three  ends : 

1.  It  must  stimulate  the  instinctive  love  of  plant  and  flower. 

2.  It  must  impart  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  and  needs  of 
plant  growth,  both  in  a  state  of  nature  and  under  the  somewhat 
artificial  conditions  of  farm  and  garden. 

3.  It  must  accustom  the  child  to  act  upon  the  promptings 
that  this  knowledge  will  arouse. 

In  many  European  school  systems  the  problem  has  found  a 
solution.  The  organization  of  their  schools  has  made  it  easy. 
Where  teachers  are  well-prepared  for  their  work  and  hold  their 
positions  for  life,  where  schools  are  in  almost  continuous  session 
during  the  summer  months,  where  the  dwelling  of  the  teacher 
is  built  by  the  state  only  a  few  rods  from  the  school  house,  the 
school  garden,  which  is  also  the  kitchen  garden  and  flower  garden 
of  the  schoolmaster,  provides  abundant  opportunities  for  experi- 
ment and  instruction.  With  us  such  a  school  garden  seems  an 
almost  hopeless  project.  The  ignorance  of  our  teachers,  the  an- 
nual changes  of  position  in  our  rural  schools,  the  weeds  that  run 
riot  in  our  school  yards  during  the  long  summer  vacations,  the 
vandalism  of  tramps  and  thoughtless  boys — all  seem  to  veto  ef- 
fectively in  this  country  adoption  of  the  plans  that  have  yielded 
such  admirable  results  m  Europe. 

Yet  I  believe  these  ends  can  be  accomplished  in  our  rural 
schools,  even  under  our  present  organization  of  the  school  year,  if 
we  can  secure  teachers  who  know  and  love  the  work.  It  is  idle 
to  expect  satisfactory  results  from  the  mere  use  of  a  text-book  or 
from  oral  lessons  by  the  teacher.  Even  in  the  country  the  chil- 
dren have  made  few  careful  observations.     Their  notions  of  na- 


The  Normal  School  Quarterly. 


tural  phenomena  are  vague  and  indefinite,  largely  derived  from 
hearsay  and  colored  by  prevailing  superstitions.  There  must  be 
outdoor  work,  and,  to  accomplish  the  ends  named  above,  there 
must  be  the  personal  care  of  growing  plants  to  which  the  sense  of 
ownership  brings  added  interest  and  responsibility.  Even  if  the 
ultimate  end  of  the  study  is  a  better  agriculture,  it  is  not  best  to 
deal  exclusively  or  even  mainly  with  the  cereals  or  forage  crops  of 
the  farm.  The  valuable  ends  can  all  be  secured  in  the  cultivation 
of  flowers  and  fruits;  they  are  in  themselves  of  greater  interest  to 
the  children,  and  offer  a  greater  variety  of  features  for  study. 
The  cultivation  of  flowers  does  not  present  so  many  problems  as 
the  propagation  and  care  of  fruit  trees;  but  it  yields  quick  returns 
and  appeals  more  strongly  to  the  interests  of  children. 

Under  American  school  conditions  the  success  of  the  teacher 
must  depend  very  largely  upon  the  extent  to  which  he  secures  the 
co-operation  of  the  parents  in  promoting  the  home  gardens  of  the 
children.  He  can  interest  the  children  in  the  work,  show  how 
some  of  it  can  be  done,  and  give  directions  for  the  rest.  He 
probably  will  be  able  to  show  few  finished  products  of  the  school 
garden  itself.  Even  if  the  school  garden  could  be  carried  on  un- 
der as  favorable  conditions  as  in  Germany,  it  would  still  be  better 
to  interest  the  children  in  the  beautifying  of  their  own  homes 
thru  their  individual  efforts. 

The  purposes  of  the  school  garden  are  especially  to  develop 
an  interest  in  flowers,  to  afford  practical  instruction  in  caring  for 
them,  to  serve  as  an  example  and  stimulus  for  the  home  gardens 
of  the  pupils,  and  to  diffuse  knowledge  of  the  laws  and  processes 
of  vegetable  growth.  There  lies  in  the  background  the  thought 
of  a  better  agriculture  brought  to  pass  thru  this  agency,  and 
the  richer  individual  life  that  finds  delight  in  the  appreciation  of 
natural  beauty. 

To  secure  the  best  results  all  features  of  the  garden  must  con- 
tribute to  these  ends.     There  must  be  system  and  harmony  in 


Agriculture  and  Horticulture  in  the  Bural  Schools.  9 

the  position  and  arrangement  of  the  garden  with  reference  to 
the  surroundings  of  the  school.  It  is  impossible  to  lay  down 
many  rules  of  universal  application.  So  much  depends  upon  the 
available  space,  the  position  of  the  shade  trees,  the  slope  of  the 
land.  There  must  be  a  playground  for  the  children  upon  which 
not  even  a  school  garden  should  encroach.  We  have  rejoiced 
in  the  recent  revival  of  interest  in  tree-planting  about  school 
premises;  yet  it  is  possible  to  plant  too  many  trees;  to  plant  them 
too  near  the  building,  or  to  spoil  the  effect  by  wrong  location. 
The  school  premises  should  resemble  a  picture,  the  building  near 
the  center  surrounded  by  open  spaces  bordered  by  trees  and 
banks  of  shrubbery,  or  tall  flowering  plants.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  row  lining  the  street  in  front,  most  of  the  trees  should 
be  grouped  in  the  remoter  portions  of  the  grounds.  In  irregu- 
lar masses  about  the  border,  care  being  taken  to  keep  the  taller 
in  the  rear,  may  be  planted,  lilacs  and  forsythias,  syringas,  spi- 
raeas, weigelias,  and  japonicas,  flowering  almonds,  althea,  hydran- 
gea, and  deutzia,  and  flowering  currants.  A  few  scattering  shrubs 
will  not  suffice.  They  should  be  planted  close  enough  to  pro- 
duce mass  effects.  A  portion  of  the  outskirts  of  the  grounds 
should  be  set  apart  for  hardy  border  plants,  perennials  that  once 
established  will  hold  their  own  with  little  attention.  Peonies, 
bleeding  hearts,  columbines,  phloxes,  lilies,  irises,  and  coreopsis, 
hollyhocks,  and  rudbeckia  will  maintain  a  succession  of  bloom  all 
summer  long  about  the  empty  school  house.  The  greater  part 
of  the  garden  must  be  devoted  to  annuals  and  experimental  beds. 
Yet  even  these  should  be  arranged  with  reference  to  general 
effect  as  viewed  from  the  front.  Strong  growers  with  rank  foli- 
age, cannas,  sunflowers,  castor  beans,  must  stand  well  to  the 
margin.  Tall  spikes  of  flowers  upon  comparatively  naked  stems 
like  the  amaranth  and  gladiolus  may  stand  well  in  the  foreground. 
Generally  more  pleasing  effects  are  secured  by  massing  each 
variety,  rather  than  by  scattering  them  among  different  species. 


10  The  Normal  School  Quarterly. 

In  beginning  a  school  garden  most  of  the  planting  must  be 
done  in  the  spring,  yet  there  is  much  to  do  in  the  fall.  The 
plan  should  be  carefully  worked  out,  the  sod  broken  up,  and  the 
ground  partially  prepared  for  the  spring  planting.  Seeds  may 
be  gathered  or  ordered  early  from  some  reliable  seedsman.  After 
the  garden  is  once  established  the  gathering  and  labeling  of  seeds 
will  receive  conspicuous  attention. 

A  few  bulbs,  crocuses,  tulips,  hyacinths,  should  be  planted  for 
early  spring  flowering.  The  ground  should  be  thoroly  pul- 
verized to  a  good  depth.  The  bulbs  may  be  planted  at  any  time 
before  November  15.  September  plantings  usually  yield  best 
results.  The  teacher  should  secure  a  few  four-inch  pots  and 
instruct  the  pupils  in  the  mode  of  preparing  hyacinths  and  nar- 
cissi for  winter  flowering.  Unless  the  school  house  boasts  of  a 
cellar  which  does  not  freeze,  it  will  be  necessary  to  take  these 
to  the  homes  of  the  pupils  for  development. 

In  the  fall,  tpo,  many  seeds  should  be  planted — peach  pits  to 
be  budded  in  the  following  September,  apple  seeds  to  produce 
stocks  for  grafting,  and  especially  nuts  and  acorns,  whether  it  is 
desired  merely  to  study  their  mode  of  germination,  or  to  grow 
trees.  These  trees  with  long  tap-roots  do  not  bear  transplanting 
well.  In  many  parts  of  the  middle  west,  nut  trees  are  growing 
scarce.  Walnuts,  butternuts  and  shell-bark  hickories  should  be 
planted  abundantly  along  roadsides,  whenever  the  soil  is  suitable. 
As  far  north  as  the  forty-first  parallel  in  rich  soils  the  pecan  is  pre- 
eminently the  tree  to  plant;  it  is  a  vigorous  grower,  clean-limbed, 
symmetrical,  and  beautiful;  and  at  the  present  prices  of  the  nuts 
no  field  or  orchard  crop  can  yield  a  better  return  for  the  ground 
it  occupies.  If  nuts  of  northern  growth  are  planted,  the  trees 
will  yield  abundantly  and  the  crop  will  mature. 

In  the  fall  months  the  teacher  will  start  a  window  garden  in 
pots  and  window  boxes  in  the  south  windows  of  his  schoolroom, 


Agriculture  and  Horticulture  in  the  Rural  Schools.  11 

not  so  much  as  an  end  in  itself,  but  as  a  means  of  instructing  the 
children  in  the  care  of  their  own  houseplants.  The  lessons 
should  deal  with  such  questions  as  these:  the  proper  admixture 
of  loam  and  sand  or  leaf -mold  for  different  species;  the  use  of 
broken  brick  or  fragments  of  pottery  to  insure  proper  drainage; 
how  often  and  how  freely  plants  should  be  watered;  the  various 
modes  of  repotting  plants  of  different  ages;  the  varying  amount 
of  sunlight  required  by  different  plants;  showering  or  bathing 
plants  to  free  them  from  the  dust  of  the  schoolroom;  how  to 
destroy  the  red  spiders,  the  green  lice,  the  scales  and  mealy  bug, 
that  infest  houseplants;  how  to  propagate  petunias,  geraniums, 
salvias,  and  coleuses  by  cuttings.  The  varieties  chosen  for  the 
schoolroom  must  depend  upon  the  exposure,  the  mode  of  heat- 
ing the  building,  and  to  some  extent  upon  the  age  of  the  pupils 
instructed.  In  rural  schools  it  will  be  necessary  to  carry  them 
all  to  the  homes  of  the  pupils  by  the  end  of  November.  The 
dust  and  extremes  of  temperature  that  usually  prevail  in  city 
schools  suggest  that  even  for  them  only  vigorous  and  hardy  spe- 
cies be  selected.  Geraniums,  salvias,  lantanas,  ageratum,  and  hel- 
iotrope grow  freely  and  bloom  abundantly  with  any  sort  of  treat- 
ment. A  large  pot  of  double  white  petunias  will  fill  the  air  with 
fragrance.  These  are  all  readily  propagated  by  cuttings.  A 
Chinese  primrose  may  be  bought  of  the  florist.  Bulbs  of  the  yel- 
low or  pink  oxalis  may  be  started  at  almost  any  season  and  will 
bloom  profusely.  A  basket  of  asparagus  sprengerii  should  hang 
before  the  window.  Kenilworth  ivy  may  be  substituted  at  a  north 
window.  Begonias  and  sword  ferns  may  be  kept  in  rooms  where 
direct  sunlight  never  enters. 

In  March  the  teacher  may  place  in  the  south  or  east  windows 
a  few  shallow  starting  boxes  for  annuals.  Asters,  calliopsis,  cos- 
mos, petunias,  phloxes,  zinnias,  and  salvias,  will  be  ready  for  trans- 
planting to  the  school  garden  or  to  the  private  gardens  of  the 


12  The  Normal  School  Quarterly. 

pupils  early  in  May.  The  inexperienced  teacher  must  be  prepared 
for  failure  in  this  work.  Poor  seed,  wrong  temperature,  too  much 
or  too  little  water,  earth  worms  that  devour  the  young  seedlings, 
the  "damps"  that  may  cause  a  flourishing  plantation  to  vanish 
in  a  few  hours,  are  only  part  of  the  difficulties  that  vex  the  soul 
of  the  amateur  florist. 

At  this  time,  when  the  warming  sunshine  develops  every  lat- 
ent interest  in  plant  life,  the  pupils  should  make  an  experimental 
study  of  germination  to  discover  the  conditions  of  light,  heat, 
and  moisture  most  favorable  to  different  plants.  Our  recent  text- 
books in  botany  describe  experiments  of  this  character,  as  well 
as  numerous  simple  devices  for  illustrating  the  effects  of  drain- 
age, the  value  of  a  dust  mulch  in  retaining  soil  moisture,  the  im- 
portance of  soluble  nitrates  to  the  growing  plant.  There  is  no 
rural  school  so  unhappily  conditioned  as  to  render  all  of  this 
work  impracticable.  Nothing  else  is  so  potent  in  awakening  an 
interest  in  scientific  agriculture,  for  nothing  else  so  clearly  reveals 
man's  power  to  alter  and  control  the  vital  conditions  of  plant  de- 
velopment. 

Early  in  April,  or  as  soon  as  the  ground  is  dry  enough,  spring 
work  in  the  school  garden  may  begin.  The  border  of  shrubs 
and  hardy  perennials  must  be  planted  before  the  buds  start. 
Sweet  peas  are  planted,  soon  to  be  followed  by  nasturtiums,  and 
after  May  1,  by  poppies,  escholtzia,  balsams,  marigolds,  ama- 
ranths, verbenas,  portulacca,  sweet  alyssum,  and  other  annuals. 
Pupils  will  bring  in  from  the  woods  anemones,  spring  beauties, 
blue  bells,  painted  cup,  trilliums,  violets,  and  spiderwort.  When 
in  full  flower  is  not  the  best  time  to  transplant;  yet  these  may 
be  kept  alive  with  some  care,  if  enough  soil  is  carried  with  the 
roots.  In  rural  and  village  schools  it  is  not  best  to  give  much 
space  in  the  school  garden  to  ordinary  fields  crops  and  garden 
vegetables.  A  few  radishes  may  be  sown  to  show  the  effect  of 
topping  the  leaves  upon  root  development.     Peanuts,  cotton,  okra, 


Agriculture  and  Horticulture  in  the  Bural  Schools. 13 

mimosas,  and  other  unfamiliar  plants  of  peculiar  habits  of  growth 
or  high  commercial  importance  may  properly  find  a  space. 

In  many  localities  public  sentiment  will  soon  repress  vacation 
vandalism  and  see  to  it  that  the  school  garden  is  not  neglected 
during  the  summer.  Yet  even  under  the  most  discouraging  cir- 
cumstances it  can  serve  for  illustration  and  "instruction  in  meth- 
ods of  culture."  Children  may  easily  be  taught  budding,  grafting, 
and  other  modes  of  propagating  fruit  trees.  Cuttings  from  the 
grape  and  the  currant  may  be  made  late  in  November,  buried  until 
spring  and  set  out  in  May.  Seedlings  may  be  grown  at  home  and 
at  school,  the  root-grafting  at  least,  may  be  done  at  school,  the 
grafted  stocks  set  out  at  home.  It  is  not  denied  that  better  trees 
can  be  bought  of  the  nurseryman;  we  claim  that  unless  this  in- 
terest in  horticulture  be  aroused  in  early  life  thru  the  propagation 
and  care  of  trees  and  flowers,  it  will  continue  to  be  true  that  one- 
third  of  the  farm  homes  of  Illinois  are  practically  destitute  of 
flowers,  three-fourths  of  them  without  a  reasonable  supply  of  or- 
chard or  garden  fruits.  The  condition  is  not  because  the  house- 
hold is  overworked.  It  is  not  because  of  indifference.  It  is  usu- 
ally due  to  simple  ignorance  of  what  to  do. 

Along  with  this  plant  study  will  come  a  mass  of  tributary 
knowledge.  The  study  of  soils  to  determine  their  behavior  to- 
ward water,  the  effect  of  drainage,  the  conditions  of  germination; 
simple  experiments  to  make  clear  the  necessity  of  soluble  nitrates, 
potash,  and  phosporic  acid;  the  insect  life  of  garden  and  orchard, 
the  birds  and  bats  and  toads  that  prey  upon  it — all  are  seen  in 
vital  relation  to  the  practical  activities  in  which  the  child  is  en- 
gaged. It  need  in  no  way  to  diminish  the  extent  of  the  course  in 
nature  study  to  give  it  this  practical  center  about  which  other 
knowledge  is  organized.  This  has  been  the  method  of  instruction 
in  the  education  of  the  race.  The  bulk  of  our  knowledge  of  na- 
ture has  been  discovered  and  preserved  only  as  it  served  practical 
ends. 


14  The  Normal  School  Quarterly. 

The  interest  aroused  by  this  study  of  plants  to  which  personal 
ownership  and  care  has  directed  special  attention  will  spread  into 
wider  fields.  The  very  difficulty  of  keeping  down  weeds  will  direct 
attention  to  the  countless  thousands  of  seeds  produced  by  many 
plants,  and  the  ingenious  contrivances  by  which  they  enlist  wind 
and  water,  bird  and  beast  to  carry  these  fceeds  to  new  areas.  There 
is  no  better  point  at  which  to  attack  the  general  problem  of  plant 
life,  how  to  mature  and  scatter  a  goodly  number  of  strong  seeds, 
than  in  studying  the  life  history  of  some  persistent  and  trouble- 
some weed,  and  the  happy  contrivances  by  which  it  is  enabled  to 
hold  its  own.  We  may  take  for  example  the  common  dandelion. 
We  notice  first  the  long  tap  root  enabling  it  to  gather  plant  food 
from  a  lower  soil  level  than  the  grasses  about  it,  next  that  this 
root  is  fleshy  thickened  with  starch  stored  up  last  summer  to  en- 
able it  to  make  a  rapid  growth  before  the  grass  starts,  then  the  broad 
leaves  spread  out  flat  in  the  April  sun,  with  bitter  juice  to  discour- 
age any  browsing  bovine  in  quest  of  early  vegetation.  Later  we 
see  the  flowers  open  in  the  sunshine  when  the  bees  are  abroad, 
displaying  their  bright  yellow  faces  to  attract  these  willing  pollen 
carriers,  but  closing  tight  at  nightfall  and  in  rain  to  protect  the 
precious  pollen.  After  the  fertilization  is  complete,  the  bracts 
close  in  until  the  seeds  are  ripened;  then  on  some  dry  windy  day 
the  stem  makes  an  astonishing  growth  of  six  or  eight  inches,  the 
bracts  fold  back,  the  barbed  seeds  float  away  in  the  wind  under 
their  hairy  balloons  until  ready  to  settle  in  some  inviting  spot  in 
our  neighbors  lawn.  Then  with  every  movement  of  the  air  back 
and  forth,  their  barbs  help  the  seeds  work  down  to  the  moist  soil 
to  germinate  and  establish  themselves.  The  incentive  to  such 
study  in  none  the  less  vigorous,  when  the  experience  of  the  garden 
has  led  us  to  believe  that  nature  is  most  generous  to  her  friendless 
children. 

Horticulture  can  find  a  place  in  our  schools  only  as  our 
teachers   become   interested   and   qualified.     No    Normal    School 


Agriculture  and  Horticulture  in  the  Bural  Schools.  15 

should  be  without  an  extensive  school  garden  and  greenhouse  in 
the  hands  of  a  competent  gardener.  The  unskilled  teacher  in 
search  of  information  will  derive  great  benefit  from  the  study 
of  seed  catalogs  of  our  leading  florists.  The  writer  has  always 
found  florists  a  very  pleasant  class  of  men  to  cultivate.  They  are 
invariably  men  of  superior  intelligence,  so  devoted  to  their  pro- 
fession that  they  are  willing  to  make  no  small  sacrifice  of  time 
and  means  in  the  promotion  of  any  enterprise  that  promises  to 
foster  the  love  of  flowers.  The  best  books  which  the  writer  has 
read  are  Flowers,  by  Eben  Kexford,  (published  by  Penn  Publishing 
Co.),  50  cents;  The  Nursery  Book,  L.  H.  Bailey,  (The  Macmillan 
Co.),  $1;  Garden  Making,  L.  H.  Bailey,  (The  Macmillan  Co.),  $1. 


16  The  Normal  School  Quarterly. 


Announcements 

March  16 — Spring  term  of  twelve  weeks  begins. 

June  4 — Annual  commencement. 

June  8- July  17 — First  summer  term  of  six  weeks. 

July  20- August  27 — Second  summer  term  of  twelve  weeks. 

September  7 — Fall  term  of  twelve  weeks  begins. 

At  the  summer  terms  are  taught  nearly  all  the  regular  twelve- 
week  courses  in  the  various  subjects.  Students  are  expected  as  a  rule 
to  take  two  subjects  only  and  recite  twice  per  day  in  each.  There 
are  also  minor  courses  in  many  subjects  and  special  courses  in 
method  for  mature  teachers.  These  special  courses  include  Labora- 
tory Physics,  Nature  Study,  Construction  Work,  Clay  Modeling  and 
Drawing,  Public  School  Music,  and  Methods  in  the  Common 
Branches.  The  primary  departments  of  the  model  school  will  be 
in  session  during  the  first  term. 

The  faculty  of  the  first  term  consists  of  twenty-four  instruct- 
ors.    Twelve  will  teach  the  second  term. 

Address  all  inquiries  for  catalogs  and  information  to 

David  Felmley,  President, 

Normal,  Illinois. 


3  0112105727413 


Application  made  for  admission  to  the  United  States 
mails  at  Normal,  Illinois,  as  second  class  matter. 


